Tank Overheating, Help!

Marco... Sorry couldn't resist..

 

Well i did the fan thing and I looked at the temp before work today and it got down to 79.9*f which is where i want it, I'm afriad if i disconnect the heater there will be to much of a dramatic change in temp. i would rather it change 4-5 degrees than it cooling down to 74-75* and then during the day it run all the way up to 84 again. does that sound right? its suppose to get a little cooler today so hopefully it wont spike the tank again.

 

Instead of disconnecting the heater, set its temperature to 76, for example. Corals will do well in a temperature range from 74 to 80. In Fosters&smith site, most coral description even say 72-80.

By lowering your temperature, you make sure that heater isn't operating when it shouldn't. Just one more thing to do. The suggestion of making a chiller caught my eye as well. I would like to see MTips18 explain that one more.

Make sure your top is off and get a ripply effect going on the surface. Hotter water holds less oxygen than colder water.

Good luck!!

 

Yea I want to see the DIY Chiller as well. MTips18 thats all you buddy.

 

Love to see if MTips18 has one?? To make your own chiller is not as hard as you think. It all depends on how extreme you want to go. I have seen people inlay PEX into the ground, below the frost line & run their water through it. Also known as a Geothermal. Cutting out the need of a chiller or heater. This is not the cheapest to build, but the most economical.

You can also use a water barrel & have a coil of tubing in it. Again your water running through it want back to your system. The water in the barrel cools the water in the tubing.

I do have a DIY design that is small & very cheap to make, but still need to build & test to make sure it maintains the temp. It can be used as a chiller or as a heater. I'll keep you posted.

 

I was thinking about this for a while and want to see what you guys think.
What if you bought one of those small freezers/ refridgerators and drilled two holes in it, ran some tubing in one end and have a good 20 or 30ft coiled in the box and then run the outlet out the other hole you drilled, silicone the openings around the tubing and dialed the fridge down pretty cold. sounds like that might work to me. Also make sure your heater works.
So I'm thinking you can find this fridge for cheap somewhere like garage sales and other places, a pump that will push through 30ft of hose and thats pretty much it. I think. sounds a lot cheaper than a actual chiller to me.

 

Bad idea. Refrigerator compressors aren't meant to be run 24/7.

 

These are about $8 at WalMart and cheaper right now on close out. I keep a couple around at all times.
Atlantic Breeze 6" Personal Clip-On Fan: Compare Prices, View Price History and Read Reviews at NexTag

 

Great find AZ. But what I did was i took a couple computer fans and fabbed up a bracket with some acrylic and i use them to blow right across the top of the tank and since then my temp hasnt gone ove 80 since. But i think I'll have to get me a few of these just for the sake of having them.

 

Here is a link to one someone built. I think he is a member here.

YouTube - BlackJack's DIY Chiller